The Iron Crown
by Kal-El Fornia
Summary: "That very well may be true, Ser Daisuke," she spoke his name and title with a mocking wicked smirk, "but when you play the Game of Thrones you either win or you die. There is no middle ground."


Had this sitting in my folders, for like months and months, and I figured I might as well just shrug, dust it off, and post it. In case any of you haven't noticed, I've been a bit obsessed with _**Game of Thrones**_ lately. It's like the new _**Breaking Bad**_. In any case, I'm not sure if I've written anything fantasy yet. I mean, I've written fics for fantasy books/games/shows, but I'm not sure if I've touched fantasy as a genre yet. Either way, here we are. Just a warning, things might not be what they seem...

Daisuke is all kinds of cool.

Quote of the day:

**Petyr Baelish:** Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next. Sometimes the best way to baffle them is to make moves that have no purpose, or even seem to work against you. Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the Game.

**Sansa Stark:** What . . . what game?

**Petyr Baelish:** The only game that matters. The Game of Thrones.

- _**A Song of Ice and Fire**_

* * *

As Hikari's eyes landed on the fabled Iron Crown that rested on the altar before her, the very same mythological crown that was forged by her ancestor Yagami ten thousand years ago, she stood with bated breath and remained respectfully silent, feeling in awe at what the First King had created so long ago to bring peace to the world. She and her companions had spent three years searching for the fabled crown since it was said that whoever bore the Iron Crown was the true and rightful ruler of the land, and Princess Hikari knew that were she to possess the crown, were she to emerge from the caverns of this last dungeon as a Queen, that the civil war that her nation had been plunged into upon the death of her King-father would finally be brought to an end. Usurpers or not, men who claimed that her brother was the one true heir or not, with the Iron Crown proven to be real no one else would have to die.

Years of traveling and trying to survive the hardships that came with living in a country at civil war had been hard, but she had been able to make it through the troubles with a little help from her friends. Whether it was being chased through the forest by enemies on horseback, or having assassins hired by the high lords who played the Game of Thrones go after her, she had been able to get through it all with her comrades at her side.

"I can't believe it's real," Hikari said after another moment, echoing the thoughts of her loyal companions who had seen it as their duty to help her on this quest that none of them thought they would actually succeed in.

The princess smiled as she turned around to face the four people who were still with her, and she could only feel grateful that they had stuck around this long to see her through it all. Ser Daisuke had proven loyal and courageous, often times being the first one in their group to strike blows against their enemies while at the same time usually being the one who would go down last whenever their adversaries proved too strong and dangerous to take head on. Ser Ken, Lord Commander of her late father's Kingsguard, was, if not as bold as Ser Daisuke, smarter and more tactical than the less experienced knight. Iori, some kid who tagged along with the group pretty much wherever they went was amiable enough, but to be honest Hikari had no idea what he actually did other than stand around to watch the more important people do stuff. And Miyako, the one mage and only other female in the group, had grown to become one of her closest confidants, the mage proving to be just as intelligent, probably more so, than Ken, and had more than once had her magic be the deciding factor in life and death situations. Hikari's smile softened though when she thought of Takeru, the dashing rogue who was no longer with them. As she looked back at the Iron Crown, she promised herself that his sacrifice would not be in vain.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" Miyako asked as the mage walked the few steps up to the altar and stood beside Princess Hikari, eyes casting downward to the forged crown of legend. "I never thought I'd ever actually see it."

"I feel the same, Your Grace," Ser Daisuke agreed as he too walked the steps until he was standing on the other side of his would-be Queen. "At least now this civil war can finally end."

"Yes." Miyako said after a moment as she, the only person who was able to considering her magic, reached out and picked up the Iron Crown from the altar. Once Miyako had the Iron Crown in her hands, she smiled at Princess Hikari and backed away just about a foot, as she held the old glowing artifact with more care than was probably necessary. "And now we can finally crown the one true Queen of our war-torn nation."

Princess Hikari smiled and lowered her head, waiting for Miyako to crown her, bringing their epic years long journey to an end. Ser Daisuke smiled at watching his Queen finally receive the throne she deserved, however, his smile soon disappeared when he finally realized just how long it was taking Miyako to go through with actually placing the crown on Hikari's head. A realization finally hit him as Ser Daisuke drew his sword, but he was too late as Miyako used her magic to shoot a bolt of lighting at the archer Princess who was unprepared to defend herself. Hikari went flying back a few feet, the magic blast not enough to kill her but definitely enough to take her out of commission, and Daisuke, sword still in hand and raised in defense against Miyako, dropped to Hikari's side.

"Your Grace!" he yelled, giving an arm for Hikari to grab, the princess groaning from pain.

Miyako only gave a scoff, placing the Iron Crown on her own head, and lifting her nose up in superiority. "Hikari is not a princess anymore. The only royalty here is me. Acknowledge that, Motomiya, and I'll spare your life."

"You think my life is some precious thing to me?" Defiantly, Daisuke immediately stood up, and pointed his blade in the direction of Miyako's throat, ready to slay this usurper if that was what things came to in the end. "You may have magic, but you can't win two against one."

Miyako smirked, apparently already tasting victory. "You're right that I can't win two on one. Here's the thing though, neither can you."

With that, the knighted Ken stepped forward, and unsheathed his blade, bringing it to face Daisuke. "I don't want to kill you, Daisuke, but if you stand against us I will have no choice. Stand down now, and I'll even let you be the Lord Commander of my Kingsguard."

"Kingsguard?" Ser Daisuke asked in confusion, Miyako being the traitor upon whose head rested the Iron Crown.

Iori did nothing.

The wicked mage laughed, her powers growing by the second thanks to her mystical crown. "I would have thought you would have known by now? I will become the Queen of this country, and Ken will be my King."

Daisuke stepped back, and his face was filled with pain when he saw Princess Hikari try to lift herself up, the hurt in her eyes seeming to stem more from emotional injuries than physical ones. His eyes darted back to the mage and the treacherous knight he had once called his friends, and Ser Daisuke prepared to give his life for Hikari. "You're nothing but traitors," the true and brave knight yelled out to them, "traitors and usurpers!"

The turn cloak mage only sniffed. "Traitors? Usurpers? Empires have been built by less."

Hikari, body still too hurt to bring herself to stand up, only lifted up her head and stared in Miyako's direction, angry and betrayed tears still welling up in her eyes. "Takeru will avenge us."

As expected, Miyako snorted. "You mean the cut throat mercenary foreigner who we met when he tried to kill you to claim that bounty that Jou the Cruel placed on your head?" The mage paused for a moment, before she pointed in the direction of the cavern-dungeon from where they came, "Or the very same man who on your orders we left to die against a dragon here in this cavern-dungeon just an hour ago?"

"He made us leave him!" Hikari cried out, guilt and shame filling her heart because of the way they had to leave Takeru behind, "He believed in us! He believed in me!"

It was then that the false knight Ser Ken began to circle around Daisuke, preparing himself to strike his old friend down for good. "And what did that belief achieve for him, Your Grace?" the Lord Commander mocked the princess, "Other than a fiery death against a dragon, I mean."

Ser Daisuke looked back at the princess, his own eyes filling with tears, before he too began to circle Ken. He braced himself, deciding then and there to make sure that Takeru's death wasn't in vain. Before he struck out at Ken however, he turned to face Miyako one last time, hate burning in his eyes. "You know what his belief achieved for him?" he yelled out towards Miyako even though it was Ken who had mocked Takeru's death, Daisuke knowing that if it wasn't for the vile seduction of the mage, that Ken would have never betrayed his vows. "It achieved for him an honorable death! His sacrifice for Hikari is what honor actually looks like, and you and Ken will never have it!"

Miyako smiled a twisted grin, her plan almost completely achieved, knowing that not all of them would leave the cave alive that day. "That very well may be true, Ser Daisuke," she spoke his name and title with a mocking wicked smirk, "but when you play the Game of Thrones you either win or you die. There is no middle ground."

The two knights then met eyes finally, and with one fearsome moment to the next, they clashed their swords against each other, each prepared to die for their Queen. In that moment, all the world stopped for the duel between the knights, a legend being forged as they clashed and fought, the knights more like titans than men.

"What are you guys doing?" Takeru asked as he walked into his apartment, carrying the Chinese food he had gone down to pick up from the delivery boy, his eyes widening in confusion as he stared at Ken and Daisuke holding plastic swords at each other's throats, and at Miyako sitting in her chair with a Burger King crown resting on her head.

* * *

Not quite what you were expecting, eh? I feel good wetting my pen a little in the ink that is fantasy, but for now that's well enough. I couldn't resist the twist ending right there. Wasn't quite sure whether or not I actually wanted to do it if I had to be honest. I shrugged and went for it though, pretty sure I made the right decision. I mean, don't I always throw a twist ending? If you are one of the people that ever checks out a story of mine, ridiculous twist endings are kind of something you have to expect by now.

Anyways, I should be off for now. Stories to review, messages to reply to.


End file.
